SBSO AWAITING EXTRADITION OF PARENTS WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH MISSING CHILD
Following a lengthy investigation, the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office is awaiting the extradition of a Poydras couple wanted in connection with their child being taken from state custody in early February, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.
Arianne Stechmann, 37, and Johnathan Kritzman, 31, both of the 2200 block of West Christie Drive in Poydras, were taken into custody April 4 and are currently incarcerated at the Hancock County Jail in Mississippi.
The couple is awaiting extradition to St. Bernard Parish Prison where they will be booked with obstruction of justice.
The couple’s 2-year-old son who was located in good health is in the custody of the LA Department of Child and Family Services.
Sheriff Pohlmann said the couple’s apprehension was made possible with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force in Gulfport, Mississippi, the U.S. Marshals Service New Orleans Task Force and the LA Department of Child and Family Services.
On Monday, Jan. 30, 2023, at approximately 10:56 p.m., Sheriff Pohlmann said, members of the Field Operations Bureau responded to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans in reference to a 2-year-old juvenile testing positive for having cocaine in his system.
The juvenile had to be intubated after the suspected overdose and was admitted to the hospital’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Detectives with the Criminal Investigations Bureau issued arrest warrants for both Stechmann and Kritzman, parents of the juvenile victim, after they fled with the child on Feb. 2 from Children’s Hospital following the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services being granted emergency custody.
Sheriff Pohlmann reminds residents with information regarding this incident or any other criminal activity in St. Bernard Parish to call the Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501, the Criminal Investigations Bureau’s tip hotline at (504) 271-TIPS or 8477, or Crimestoppers GNO at (504) 822-1111. Callers to the CIB tip hotline or Crimestoppers can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash award from Crimestoppers.
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